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Amiga Update (1999-09-25)
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional e-mail
I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I TAKE DELIVERY || Newsmagazine)
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc.
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990925
M O R E F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T
M O T O R O L A - N E W P P C S T R A T E G Y
M I R A D A S U P P O R T S P H E O N I X C O N S O R T I U M
A M I G A E X T R A V A G A N Z A 9 9
S W E D E N ' S A M I G A M A G D I E S
W A S T E D D R E A M S C D
D I G I T A L I M A G E S ' W I P O U T 2 0 9 7
N E W S C O A S T E R R E L E A S E D
F U S I O N F O R P P C I N P R O C E S S
P H O T O G E N I C S 4 . 2
P U R E B A S I C I S A V A I L A B L E
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
Our last issue carried the first statement from Amiga's new
President. There were probably some readers who thought our reaction
overly negative. That number may increase after reading his second
statement, below. However, most of our readers seem to feel as we do,
that with the latest moves at Amiga, there is no more future for an
Amiga we would recognize. At least, none with the company which
carries the name.
While Mr. Schmidt talks of licensing others to make Amiga computers,
he doesn't make any references to maintaining the standards for
hardware and operating system within Amiga. He speaks only of the
specifications for the MCC itself. It's vital for such standards to be
maintained if there's to be any kind of an Amiga computer at all. This
is our main concern with recent events, not the fact that Amiga won't
make any computers themselves. Yes, that bothers us also, since they'd
indicated they would actually build some at least. However, the real
key is to ensure clone compatibility with a meaningful standard. So
far, what we're seeing gives us little hope for such control. And
pulling away from making any computers, which would provide a standard
for clones, is a very strong negative statement. Also, remember Amiga
OS 5 has disappeared from the Amiga web site. Folks, these are pretty
strong indications, and they don't indicate good things. If Amiga
proves to actually license and maintain meaningful standards for next
generation computers, then we'll reverse our opinion of them gladly,
and be happy to admit our misjudgement. We doubt we'll have to "eat
crow" though, to use an old American saying.
We also find it disingenuous for Amiga to say that bringing the MCC
to market was beyond them. If so, buy stock in Dell and sell any you
have in Gateway. There certainly are risks, but the approach Amiga was
persuing would not be beyond Gateway, and only beyond Amiga if Gateway
chose to make it so. We suspect there were people within Gateway who
didn't see the worth, and did see the risks. This is common when a new
opportunity collides with a company that's lost the entrepreneurial
spirit and can't recapture it. Especially if there were pressure from
Microsoft, as has been alleged in some quarters.
We feel it's still possible for Gateway/Amiga to come up with
something that will please the Amiga community down the road. We also
feel the odds are greatly against it. If the Amiga is to survive as a
computer platform, it probably is in the hands of the community. This
is a heady and heavy challenge. We hope the people trying to make this
work will succeed, and we stand ready to help them get the word out to
you as they go forward.
There are many efforts being launched by the community. Besides the
"Phoenix Consortium" mentioned in last issue, there's AQUQ (a software
architecture whose name stood for Amiga QNX Uniform Architecture, at
least originally, and maybe still does), Amino (an Amiga like company
name being discussed by former Amiga Inc. employee Fleecy Moss), and
TAC (Team AMIGA Central). Despite requests for information to
individuals identified as participating in these groups, none of them
has responded to "Amiga Update" at this time. Some of the e-mail just
bounced from the addresses we found on mostly empty web sites. Other
e-mail went unresponded to. The reason for silence mentioned in the
few public statements made is that pieces aren't in place yet to
provide information properly, or that nothing is yet ready and there
will be no premature announcements. Both are good reasons, but the
situation does leave us unclear on who'll be doing what and what the
relationships among groups is. As the picture clarifies, we'll bring
you information. Well known Amigans such as Fleecy Moss and Bill
McEwan have their names associated with much of the activity. Fleecy
has given a long interview on some of what's underway. It can be found
at http://www.williams.demon.co.uk/seal/fleecyint2.html as I write
this.
From where we sit, it's all very confused at the moment. Lots of
acronyms, lots of good intentions, too early for anything real or any
idea if there ever will be anything real. We do hope so. But we still
have the standards issue ...
TransMeta - No Betta' Than Gateway?
Recently the CEO of TransMeta was quoted as saying there was never
any connection between the secretive company and Amiga. The name
TransMeta appeared at World of Amiga only because it was in the
background of a picture of Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux, who
works for TransMeta. Unfortunately for that story, there were many
Amigans watching, some of whom captured images of the presentation,
who will be happy to state the name was on the list of partners, not
in the background at all.
Maybe we're better off without TransMeta, whatever they're doing. One
thing we don't need more of is "untruths".
We hope you enjoy this issue.
Brad Webb,
Editor
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E-mail to the E-ditor:
10 Sep 1999
Hello Brad,
I am the manager for the San Francisco State Univ. Residential
Network (ResNet). We have ~1500 kids in our networked dorms. Each
semester I get asked by kids and their parents what computer should
they get. Well guess what, after two years of suggesting Gateway
computers...All of a sudden my opinion has changed...Gateway?!...No, I
think you would be much happier with a Dell :)
Kind Regards,
Harry
==
Harry,
Thanks very much for the note and permission to print it. To the
readers: Harry's note is in response to our last issue in which I
mentioned I expected a backlash against Gateway that could be
surprising to them because many Amigans are involved professionally
in the IT industry in one way or another. I'm sure Harry isn't alone
in his response and I must admit it brought a smile to my face.
Brad
~~~~~~
16 Sep 1999
Dear Brad,
The one thing that is very obvious about Mr. Schmidt's release is
that it is classic double-speak: it takes great pains to really say
nothing at all.
My counter to this release would be to tell Mr. Schmidt and Gateway
to go ahead with their next millenium multimedia "appliance" and if
they really need to call it "Amiga", then do so, but they could at
least show some respect for the Amiga community by releasing the
rights to the old OS and hardware so that someone (maybe this Phoenix
group) can try to continue on our own path even if it's not called
Amiga but something else.
I've been using Linux now for most of the year. I think Linux shows
us how to almost but not quite get it right. The Open Source concept
is the key element that could resurrect the Amiga if anything can.
What Linux lacks is anything beyond all the excited geeks who really
believe in it. There is a pretense of support for Linux in all of its
"documentation", but the documentation is largely a barely readable
diverse collection of highly technical information, a lot of which is
outdated and incorrect as far as newer releases of the kernel go.
I have Wordperfect 8 for Linux and it works pretty well. It appears
that Corel feels that because they allow it to be downloaded for free
that they don't need to fix some of the glaring glitches in the
display that are quite annoying (makes it look like a beta version). I
even paid for a licensed copy of Wordperfect 8, and noted after I
bought it that the CDROM manual that comes with it is for Wordperfect
7, and because of MANY differences in the operation of 7 and 8, it is
virtually useless -- fortunately the written manual is correct. I
wanted to email them to let them know about these various problems,
but I can't find any email address on their website to send it to --
I'm certainly not going to pay for a phone call just to tell them all
these problems. I keep wondering, where are the fixes?
So the gist I get is that the commercial players are using Linux for
two things: 1)to get back at Microsoft, and 2)to save money by not
having to finish and support their products. Doesn't sound like the
beginning of a success story to me.
Personally, I view Linux as a way to keep myself intellectually
occupied as I fumble my way around its innards. Meanwhile, I'm trying
to learn Perl.
Greg
==
Greg,
If Linux is to continue its growth, it's going to have to address all
problems of the nature you describe. It's too bad the Amiga will not
be in a position to help.
As for releasing the source of Amiga OS, that might indeed help. Just
because Amiga OS is old doesn't mean it's bad. One reason many
professionals in the IT world prefer UNIX to NT, and that includes me,
is because UNIX has been around long enough to become very stable and
mature. Amiga OS needs improvements in key areas, but it's also been
tempered by time.
Brad
~~~~~~
15 Sep 1999
...say it ain't so, Brad...
I'm having trouble believing that Amiga is dead again. I need to hear
it from Gateway. Yeah, I'd love to hear them admit that they did
something so massively stupid. They came along at a time when
MicroSoft was starting to show the strain; they found and bought a
technology that had the potential to finally loosen ol' Visa Bill's
grip on his monopoly; they set up a company to develop it, put their
best people in it, poured dump truck loads of money into it; then,
mere months before this shining hope was ready for release, they took
the very part of the technology, (controlling internet appliances),
that Microsoft already has wrapped up and chucked the whole rest of it
in the dumpster! Irving Gould and Medhi Ali weren't _that_ stupid!
P.S. Do you know off hand what the status of OS3.5 is?
Allan
==
Allan,
I think you echo questions a large number of Amigans are asking. As
for OS 3.5, as nearly as I can tell it's real and coming. I have my
copy on order.
Brad
~~~~~~
15 Sep 1999
Hello Brad
After constructing a long response to Tom Schmidt's statement,
I decided to erase it and just say I think he's "full of beans".
It's discouraging that he can't tell the difference between
hundreds versus thousands of e-mails as it is quite a large
gap. He says "Long live Amiga" but Gateway-Amiga has only
orphaned it once again in the same fashion of Commodore and Escom
have done with broken promises, mis-management, and greed.
THE real Amiga has been the devotion, work, and sacrifice of
designers, programmers, developers, and users. They support and
appreciate this "box and O/S" which makes their lives better.
It's a wonderful workhorse and work of art. I personally want
it spread again so that everyone has the opportunity to at least
know what it is. I don't care if it's the number one seller, but
I do care if its decendant is still around for us to use. So
call me selfish.....
Thank you very much for your newsletter, and thanks for posting
the Phoenix information. They have my full support.
- Lars
==
Lars,
Like you, we wish the Phoenix consortium the best. They have a very
difficult road ahead of them. On their side is that fact that no-one
else has ever done what the Amiga community has already done. This
computer has largely been kept alive by the community for years. Now
it looks like it much be 100% a community project.
Brad
~~~~~~
14 Sep 1999
I'm not so sure this is all that bad. Months ago, Gateway said they
weren't going to make the AmigaNG computer, just license the Amiga
technology/OS. Collas said the same a few weeks ago. So now we're back
to the same story.
What has happened is that Amiga Inc./Gateway has gone into stealth
mode after a lot of publicity, after saying earlier they didn't want
to tip their hand to possible competitors (e.g. Microsoft) who could
thwart their plans. Could not recent events serve to conceal Gateway's
true plans, plans more to our liking than some are willing to admit?
Maybe we'll find out in "two more weeks" (OK, 4 more months) :-)
Gary
==
Gary,
We honestly didn't pick and chose our letters for this issue to set a
theme, the tone you see here accurately reflects how our readers feel.
Thank you for providing a counterpoint view. We actually find it a
positive thing that there are still some with hope for the future, and
hope in Gateway/Amiga. However, for the reasons I state in my
editorial above, I really don't expect anything from them. Here's
hoping I'm wrong and you're right.
Brad
~~~~~~
11 Sep 1999 21:11:31 GMT
Congratulations Ted,
Your silence is dammning. you most likely will be remembered as the
man who finally laid Amiga to rest.
I suspect that we are so firecely protective of the Amiga because ALL
of the alternatives, despite their dazzling specs are still
"un-satisfying" to use.
I run a growing business here in Japan using Amigas...it is quite
difficult to to get hardare and software at times but I persist
because all the Macs and PCs just do not "cut it"
In closing, I wonder how my business would fare with you as the CEO.
Judging by the track record thus far, I shudder to think.
Congratulations Ted.
It's an odd an unfamiliar feeling to say that even though I do not
know you and most probably will never meet you in your lofty
circles...I don't like you.
In the end, you are responsible. That is how I personally see it.
The Amiga is not a token in a Monopoly game to us.
Michael
==
Michael,
I doubt Ted Waite reads "Amiga Update", but I wish he did. As you
say, in the end it's his company. Maybe in Waite/Schmidt we'll have
another pair to place besides Gould/Ali. In truth, we're not quite at
that point yet. There still is a very slim possibility Gateway/Amiga
will do something the community will applaud. I'm not holding my
breath waiting, however.
We hope you'll forgive us for excerpting your letter. We had to do
that to many of the notes above also, and some letters we couldn't fit
in at all. For some odd reason, the old mailbox at "Amiga Update" is
more full than it's been in a long time ...
Brad
----------------------------------------------------------------------
M O R E F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T
September 17, 1999
Open Letter to the Amiga Community
There has been a great deal of confusion and frustration expressed in
the news groups and via email over the past several weeks. I apologize
that we have not been more direct in our communications, and I want to
set the record straight.
First, per my previous messages, I continue to be impressed with the
passion and commitment of this community. You have "hung in there''
through a number of upheavals over the past years, and through several
false starts on next-generation Amiga platforms. You deserve better. I
have received many, many emails over the past two weeks, expressing
your opinions and frustrations. Let me try and summarize what I have
heard.
Many of you acknowledge the fact that we are focusing on software for
the coming generation of "Internet appliances.'' We are very excited
about the new Amiga Operating Environment, the work we are doing with
Linux (and other operating systems that support Java), and the huge
growth curve in Internet appliances that we are going to ride. You
have gracefully wished us well in this endeavor, for that, I thank
you. As you know, we announced in July that we were pursuing the
development of a "multimedia convergence computer'' that would serve
as the next-generation Amiga desktop computer. After the change in
management at Amiga, we reviewed all our product plans. To be honest,
the ability for us to deliver the MCC was unrealistic. Furthermore, I
have fundamentally decided that it would be better to partner with a
wide variety of hardware partners, rather than compete against them
with a product of our own.
From your perspective, one big problem exists. Sounds great, but what
does this new direction have to do with the original Amiga computer?
Quite honestly, nothing! We realize that this does not satisfy the
desire of the Amiga community for a next-generation Amiga. In
response, I remain committed to seek out partners who are interested
in developing a next-generation Amiga computer and operating system.
We have been following the discussions amongst the newly formed
"Phoenix Platform Consortium'' and talking to companies interested in
supplying the next-generation Amiga. We are open to the possibility of
licensing the MCC product specification and design that is now on the
shelf to companies that are interested in further developing the Amiga
desktop computer product line. We believe that this could be an
attractive business opportunity for another company.
In summary, we are continuing to focus our resources on setting
software standards for the coming generation of Internet appliances.
We are not planning to offer hardware devices, but will work with
hardware manufacturers who want to license our technology. As far as
offering next-generation Amiga systems, we are open to talking to
companies who want to offer such a product. For those of you who are
excited about the Amiga Operating Environment running on a wide
variety of future Internet appliances, we invite you to track our
progress and activities over the coming months. The Internet appliance
software model that we are putting together will open up an exciting
new era of software development that we think will be very interesting
to the type of innovative thinkers who were drawn to the Amiga
computer in years past.
Best Regards,
Thomas J. Schmidt
President and CEO
Amiga, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
M O T O R O L A - N E W P P C S T R A T E G Y
Motorola PowerPC Microprocessor Strategy (32K pdf)
Motorola Discloses New PowerPCTM Microprocessor Strategy Roadmap
Customers announce products based on the MPC7400 microprocessor
Austin, TX - September 13, 1999 - In a move to demonstrate their
strong long-term commitment to the PowerPC architecture as a strategic
solution addressing multiple markets, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) today
revealed its PowerPC Microprocessor Strategy Roadmap. Details included
information on the future direction for development of leading-edge
microprocessors, integrated devices, innovative design methodologies
and manufacturing processes, as well as an aggressive strategy for
rapid reuse of these technologies. The new products, all to be created
at Motorola design centers worldwide, expand the PowerPC portfolio
providing solutions for the networking, telecommunications, computing,
transportation and other high-end embedded markets. The announcement
was made during the keynote address at the company's Horizons '99
event, where several customers demonstrated new products based on the
recently announced MPC7400 PowerPC microprocessor "The
high-performance embedded space craves raw MIPS processing and
sophisticated integration for its products," said Daniel Artusi,
Motorola vice president and general manager of the Network and
Computing Systems Group. "The large and influential base of customers
using PowerPC-based designs must be able to create flagship products
and move them into the market rapidly. We've dedicated enormous
resources in research and design to ensure that our PowerPC-based
microprocessors continuously deliver best-in-class customer solutions
for all of our target markets."
As illustrated by Motorola's PowerPC Strategy Roadmap, the PowerPC
core design facilitates ease of reuse for integrated devices or
semi-custom applications. System level reuse of intellectual property
results in faster time-to-market. In 1998, Motorola captured 36% of
the 32-bit embedded processor market and the PowerPC architecture was
rated the #1 choice for new 32-bit embedded applications*. Coupled
with state-of-the-art design methodology, the PowerPC technology reuse
strategy will further strengthen Motorola's already dominant market
position.
"The PowerPC roadmap underscores a renewed vigor by Motorola to
advance the PowerPC family," said market watcher Will Strauss,
president of Forward Concepts (Tempe, AZ). "Applying the most advanced
0.15-micron copper HiPerMOS process to the product family indicates
Motorola's substantial investment in advancing the PowerPC
technology."
Today TeraGLOBAL Communications Corporation, CSP Inc. and DY 4
Systems Inc. announced products based on Motorola's MPC7400 PowerPC
microprocessor with AltiVec technology. These products join other
MPC7400-based solutions recently introduced by Mercury Computer
Systems, Inc. and SKY Computers, Inc. The MPC7400 processor with
AltiVec technology also powers all of Apple's newest and most powerful
desktop computers, the Power MacTM G4 series.
As the worlds's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's
Semiconductor Products Sector offers multiple DigitalDNATM solutions
which enable customers to create new business computing,
transportation, and wireless communications markets. Motorola's
worldwide semiconductor sales were $7.3 billion (USD) in 1998.
Motorola is a global leader in providing integrated communications
solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 1998 were $29.4
billion. For additional information regarding Motorola PowerPC
microprocessors, visit http://motorola.com/PowerPC.
*Source: Cahner's MicroDesign Resources The Microprocessor Report,
January 1999.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
M I R A D A S U P P O R T S P H E O N I X C O N S O R T I U M
14 Sep 1999
It's about time the "big boys" came out to play.
This has happened before. But unlike before, there truly are some
heavyweights among the rebels (or is that REBOLs?)
We're going to follow this one closely. It opens so many new and
exciting doors. Maybe we (Mirada) won't have to do a 100% port to
Linux after all (?) ;)
To show our support, any of you weary may submit your support at our
web-page and we will then forward it to "greenboy". And, to further
show our hearts are in the right place, we will give the
administrators of this project full access to the database via a web
interface.
Fleecy? Bill?
We are only asking for the exact information that was asked for on
the TA Mailing List.
Point your browser to the form at:
http://www.mirada-innovations.com/amigang.phtml
NOTE: This is not yet officially endorsed by Amino or the "Phoenix
Consortium", we are only doing it in support of the effort, all
information is for the SOLE purpose of this effort. It will be
forwarded to the E-Mail address in the TA Mailing List E-Mail
(greenboy@bigsky.net)
Regards,
Jeffrey D. Webster
Mirada Innovations
http://www.mirada-innovations.com/polls/poll.phtml
(Take our bi-weekly Political polls!)
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A M I G A E X T R A V A G A N Z A 9 9
24 Sept. 1999
Amiga Extravaganza 99
WHEN:
October 8th (setup) and get acquainted
Sat Oct 9th: 10am-6pm EST
Sun Oct 10th: 10am-4pm EST
WHERE:
National Guard Armory 3912 West Minnesota St
Indianapolis, IN
HOW MUCH:
$8 in advance
$10 at the door (2 free tickets with purchase of 1 or more tables)
Who Will Be There?
If the vendor has a (*) by the name they are not totally committed or
pending, this will change.
Digital Arts
Amiga, NewTek, DeskStation dealer located in Bloomington, IN
*Seminare
* ImageFX
Computer animation and graphics for broadcast television, multimedia
and the Internet
SystemsForTomorrow
Hardware and software for Amiga. Located in Independence, MO.
* Token Media
Video Imaging Studios has served as the Twin Cities full service
video production center.
Onyx Technologies
Telecommunication solutions provider for the small to medium business
"an authorized Altigen Communications Dealer"
Amazing Amiga Magazine
The World's First Monthly Amiga Magazine *Seminare
* John Zacharias
Author of AEMail, email client for the Amiga
* Cloanto
Italian makers of the high-quality PPaint, PSuite and Kara Collection
font/etc. package.
FWD-Computing
Mail-order CD-ROM software for Amiga computers
CompuQuick Media Center
Hardware, software and peripherals in central Ohio.
Dan's Deals
Specializing In Amiga Components and Systems, located in NE Ohio
Macrohard Computers
Amiga Hardware dealer out of Ohio, Owner Laurent Arseneau
Discount Computer Supplies
Printing and computer supplies, Amiga compatible. Will be presenting
a seminar about re-inking cartridges, creating your own designs for
mouse pads, T-shirts & Cups.
Details
Show Space 99ft x 104ft (over 10,000 sq. ft!)
Iteneriary
Near by lodging ($ave with our group rate)
Comfort-Sleep Inn
Online Application Forms for Vendor/Dealers and User Groups. Vendor
Space (8 ft tables - no limit on the # of tables) this price includes
2 free tickets All fees cover both Saturday and Sunday.
If you are a User Group please click here, All Vendors/Dealers you
need to click here. Please use one of the links above to apply for
show space. Cost of Booths: $300 (Hurry!! deadline Sept 28th)
Seafood Newburg & Prime Rib, click! Banquet
All-U-Can-Eat Buffet $25 per person (Waterfront Inn)
If you are interested in attending our show and you are not a vendor
or part of a user group please click on the following form. ($ave
Now!)
AE Shows User Form
Make All Payments Payable To:
ARCUG, Indianpolis
Att: Amiga Extravaganza A word from the President of ARCUG
4007 Lawndale Ave ,Suite A
Indianapolis, IN 46254
http://www.midlink.com/amiga/aeshows2.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
S W E D E N ' S A M I G A M A G D I E S
13 Sept., 1999
The only printed Swedish Amiga magazine - "Amiga Info/AI Echo" -
announced on September 10 that it has ceased publishing. It was
started in 1996 by Thomas Svensson and the final issue (19) was
published in March of this year. The final issue saw a name change
from Amiga Info to "AI/Echo" to better reflect the magazine changing
from an Amiga-only magazine to one also covering Linux. Although that
meant an increase in sales it was not enough to save the magazine.
AmigaInfo/AI Echo's web site will live on at www.xfiles.se.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
W A S T E D D R E A M S C D
Winnipeg, MB, September 11, 1999 Power Solutions announces the first
of its imported titles: Wasted Dreams CD for $49.99 CAD. With its hand
drawn locations, digital speech, 3D rendered animations, strategy
action, and logic puzzles it will keep players busy for some time.
Wasted Dreams will work on any Amiga with 2MB Chip ram and 1MB Fast
ram. It will utilize faster CPU's, more memory, and the AGA chipset if
available.
As well, our efforts to reduce old inventory continue. The 50% off
sale is still ongoing. Buy Distant Suns CD v5.01 for $29.99 CAD and
receive a 50% discount on all other products in our online ordering
catalog. This discount does NOT apply to the Wasted Dreams CD. Power
Solutions is an Amiga only Canadian company. Access our software
catalog at http://www.powersolutions.mb.ca/cat_sw/
http://www.powersolutions.mb.ca/
info@powersolutions.mb.ca
1-204-453-0527
----------------------------------------------------------------------
D I G I T A L I M A G E S ' W I P O U T 2 0 9 7
September 8th, 1999 - Blittersoft have announced today that we are
now taking pre-orders for the famous Anti-Gravity Racer WipeOut 2097.
This game needs little introduction, already proving a smash hit
success on the PlayStation and PC platforms. We expect full release in
October.
At last a game is available on the Amiga that will really show off
the power of the PPC platform and 3D capable graphics hardware.
For further information and pre-order details, please visit the Store
area on our Website.
http://www.blittersoft.com
Specification:
Highly detailed 3d graphics
8 tracks with up to 15 ships racing concurrently
3 racing modes (time trial/arcade/challenge)
4 racing classes
5 ship models with different characteristics
8 weapons/extras
9 CD audio tracks + 16 bit sound fx
MPEG animations (no external player required)
Keyboard/Mouse/Joypad control (fully configurable)
AMIGA-specific features:
Runs in a window on the workbench (incl. resizing)
Supports triple buffering for max. performance
Increased maximal view distance during the race
Fogging effect
Mipmapping/trilinear filtering (if supported by hardware)
Gamma correction
Optional frame rate limitation
Requirements:
PowerPC 603e CPU (recommended: 604e CPU)
3D gfx card (minimal: CV3D, recommended: CVPPC/BVPPC or newer)
recommended: sound card
minimal 1 MB free HD space (recommended: 70 MB)
24 MB RAM (recommended: 32 MB RAM)
CD-ROM drive
OS 3.0 (recommended: OS 3.1)
CyberGraphX/Picasso96 software
WarpUp V4 software (included)
Warp3D V2 software (included)
recommended: AHI software
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W S C O A S T E R R E L E A S E D
11 September, 1999
NewsCoaster, Offline Newsreader Available
Announcing the release of NewsCoaster, a new shareware offline
newsreader for the Amiga. The unregistered version can be downloaded
from Aminet, in comm/news/newscoaster.lha
Minimum Requirements:
- 68020 or better
- MUI
- 4MB RAM (absolute minimum)
- OS3.0 or above
Features:
- Powerful control over which posts are downloaded (eg, set a maximum
number of posts to download) - can configure for each newsgroup
individually - Killfile on any header - Automatic killfile creation,
based on a particular message (eg, kill this thread, or kill all
messages from this author) - Choose not to download messages greater
than a certain number of lines - Email support to reply to sender -
Automatic rewrapping of text when replying - no more overspilling
lines - Multithreaded interface - view messages whilst replying to
others, and having preferences windows open, continue to use the
program whilst uploading and downloading news - Import function which
reads in all news items from a given directory (and all
sub-directories) allowing you to easily import news from your old
newsreader - MIME Version 1.0 for decoding files - can decode
Quoted-Printable, base64 and uuencoded messages - Attachments - base64
encoding - Search facilities - can search in a particular header, or
in any header, the message body, or the entire message - *, / and _
are converted to bolds, italics and underlines - but this can be
turned off (no more unreadable programming NGs that you get in some
newsreaders...) - You can have eight signatures, with a default
specified for each newsgroup - Easy to use interface - AmigaGuide
documentation - Download Group list option - Many more features..
Please visit http://members.tripod.com/newscoaster for more details.
Thanks,
Mark Harman
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F U S I O N F O R P P C I N P R O C E S S
FUSION-PPC in the works!
Deadline for release: November 20th, 1999
17 Sept., 1999
Microcode Solutions is pleased to announce that the 60 day count down
for the release of the PPC module will begin on September 20th, 1999.
The PC version is being worked on at the same time as the Amiga
version, so the expected release date will be close to the Amiga
version.
Although we have 60 days to complete the product, it may be that it
is done much sooner... especially in light of the competition between
Microcode Solutions and Emulators, Inc. to release a PPC version for
the PC.
The retail price for the PowerPC upgrade module is $199.95. If you
pre-pay before the release of the product (regardless of the stated
release date), you will be charged only $149.95.
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P H O T O G E N I C S 4 . 2
15 Sept., 1999
Paul Nolan is pleased to announce Photogenics 4.2, another free
update to existing users of Photogenics 4.x.
The main new features in 4.2 are Tool Tips for quick and easy
explanations of all of the items in the tool bar, a Media Cache for
improved Media loading times, and new paint on image processing modes
such as: Gamma, Sharpen, UnsharpMask, BizarrePixelize, Randomize, and
Channel Randomize. Blur, Convolve and RadialBlur have been rewritten
for more speed, features and options. In particular Blur is now
incredibly fast. Processing a 50x50 pixel blur on a 800x600 image now
takes less than 2 seconds on an 060, with a huge 500x500 pixel blur
taking just 3 seconds, and is fast enough to apply with the AirBrush!
Several minor changes include an enhanced Scale with improved quality
and feedback, an improved Text tool, a reduction in the memory need by
Photogenics by one megabyte (now uses just two megs with no images
loaded), various overall speed improvements, keyboard shortcuts for
zoom and pan, plus tweaks to the user interface.
Price
$99.99 US Dollars.
Upgrade from Photogenics v1.x or v2: $75 US Dollars.
How to purchase Photogenics
You can securely order online with your credit card by going to
http://www.paulnolan.com and clicking on Purchase, or by calling the
StarByte order hotline toll free on 1 800 243 1515, extension 400.
Outside of Northern America, please prefix this number with the
necessary dialing code (00 from the UK), and note that international
call charges will apply. If upgrading, you will need your registration
code, type it into the field labeled Comments or tell the salesperson.
Photogenics is also available fully localized in German, with
distribution in Germany courtesy of Schatztruhe,
http://www.schatztruhe.de.
For screen shots, a gallery, and even more information please visit
the Photogenics website at http://www.paulnolan.com
Photogenics is a registered trademark of Paul Nolan. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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P U R E B A S I C I S A V A I L A B L E
11 Sept., 1999
Pure Basic is brand new 'high level' programming langage based on the
previoulsy etablished B.A.S.I.C rules. It ensure a good compatibility
with similar basic compiler independement of the computer. The
learning is easy, as basic has been created for beginner and the
development time is really fast.
This software has been developed for the Amiga with the Amiga
enviromment in mind. We have put lot of effort in its realization to
produce fast, reliable and system friendly langage. The respect of the
OS is always the master word, and you couldn't write bad software with
the basic commandset provided. Of course, you could add any other
functions to bash the hardware and use all the Amiga power, if you
need it.
The syntax is easy, but the possibities are huge because some
'advanced' functions has been added to this langage like pointers,
structure, procedure, dynamic linked lists, and more.. For the
experienced coder, there is no problem to access any of the legal OS
structures or amiga objects.
Finally, Pure Basic support the 680x0 processor and in early stage
the PowerPC. The PowerPC processor is not fully working yet because we
don't have any PPC accelerator at the Fantaisie Software team to
achieve the tests. The 68000 part has been very optimized to output
the best code as possible, but we're sure we could do even better !
Look yourself at the main features of Pure Basic:
- 68000 and 68020+ support (PowerPC in progress)
- Built-in Array, dynamic linked list, complex structure, pointer
and variable definitions
- Supported types: Byte (8 bit), Word (16 bits), Long (32) and user
defined ones (structures)
- Signed (finished) and unsigned (partially) support for standard
types
- Built-in strings type
- Constants, binary and hexadecimal numbers support
- Very good expression reducer by grouping constants and numeric
numbers together
- Standard arithmetic support with respect of signs priority and
parenthesis:
+, -, /, *, and, or, lsl, asl, lsr, asr
- Compile about 30 000 lines/min on a 68030/50 (with PoolMem
installed)
- Procedure support for structured programming with locals and global
variables (not fully finished)
- All Standard BASIC keywords: If-Else-EndIf, Repeat-Until ...
- External libraries support to manipulate easily objects like IFF
pictures, screens, windows, gadgets...
- Precompiled structures and constants files for extra fast
compiling.
- Cool debugger to stop the program execution and trace the bugs
easily.
- Configurable CLI compiler
- System friendly, easy to install and always under development
Visit our site web at: http://www.citeweb.net/fantaisi/
Enjoy the Amiga power !
© 1999 - Fantaisie Software -
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Amiga Update on the net:
All back issues available at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~amigaupdate/index.html
Stop by and check out our archive!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1999 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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